The invention relates to a blood detoxification system and more specifically to a structure in the form of a small, light-weight, wearable, artificial kidney.
There are a large number of people throughout the world who have kidneys that do not function properly. The standard treatment for people when they are under medical care is to use a dialysis machine for detoxification of their blood. Some of the major drawbacks of using dialysis machines is they are very expensive, they are very large and heavy, and a patient usually has to be detoxified several times a week. A standard treatment may take four or more hours to complete and it must be done at a medical facility. Also approximately 200 to 300 liters of dialyzing fluid is needed for each dialysis treatment. The dialyzing machines utilize specialized dialyzing membranes that filter out the impurities in the blood as the combined toxic blood and dialyzing fluid are passed therethrough.
More recent advances in the state of the art have been to build a structure in the form of an artificial kidney and these are basically modified versions of the dialyzing machines. Most of the research and development has been directed to the development of better dialyzing membranes, their packaging and sterilization. Some English commercial models automatically sterilize themselves after each dialyzing period. Other research and development work is concerned with a reduction of the 200-300 liters of dialyzing fluid needed for each dialysis. Although there has been much done in the development of blood compatible polymers for the membranes, as yet, none has been found that will transport impure whole blood through the membrane without some undesirable effects.
The goal in detoxifying impure whole blood is the removal of urea, uric acid, creatinine, middle molecular substances (MMS) which have a molecular weight of 1400-1550, water and phosphate from the blood. Urea is the final product of the decomposition and utilization of proteins in the body and it is eliminated through the urine. Uric acid is a substance that is the product of metabolism found normally in urine. Creatinine is a breakdown or waste product of creatine and it is a complex chemical substance, an amino acid, found in animal tissues, especially in muscles. Phosphate is a salt of phosphoric acid and this compound is formed by the replacement of one or more of the hydrogen atoms in phosphoric acid with an atom or atoms of a metal.
Blood clotting is also a major problem for several reasons; (1) ultra filtration for water removal requires a higher hydrostatic pressure than the blood normally encounters. This causes platelet damage with subsequent blood clotting. (2) calcium adheres to dialyzing membranes so that it has to be added to prevent heart damage. (3) Protein tends to adsorb to some polymer walls as well as dialyzing membranes, and this reduces membrane efficiency and aids clotting. (4) Other ions also adsorb on the membranes. Wearable units at this tine utilize dialysate and various means for scrubbing it so as to reduce the amount of dialyzing fluid. Unfortunately, the pumps, plumbing, and dialysate considerably increase the weight of the entire apparatus. At this time the smallest known artificial kidney weighs approximately 70 pounds and it was developed by Dr. Chang. With the use of dialysate almost everything is removed from the blood, thus there is a tendency toward the disequilibrium syndrome which can cause sudden death, anemia, hypertension, hyperkalemia, bone demineralization and calcification, neuro psychiatric problems with transitory psychosis, etc. This means close expensive technical aid for the patient who, of necessity must undergo dialysis. Dr. Chang admits two major problems with his artificial kidney, (1) blood clotting, and (2) water removal.
Because of the weight-volume limits, dialyzing fluid devices cannot be used for a wearable, portable, artificial kidney.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel artificial kidney that is portable and sufficiently light in weight so it can be worn or carried about by a user.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel artificial kidney that is more economical in price thereby reducing the medical cost for a person requiring constant detoxification of their blood.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel artificial kidney that can be worn by a patient during the day and which will not interfere with normal physical activities.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel artificial kidney that eliminates the need for dialyzing fluid which in state of the art devices require 200-300 liters of the dialyzing fluid for each dialysis.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a novel artificial kidney that will have small throw-away packets that are replaced daily.